Carbons



Feb. 26, 1924." 1,484,958

W. F. MUEHL APPARKTUS FOR CONVERTING HEAVY HYDROCARBONS INTO LIGHTERHYDROGARBONs Filed July 8, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 GERMAN I Feb. 26, 1924.I

v W. F. MUEHL APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING HEAVY HYDROCARBONS INTO'LIGHTERHYDROCARBONS z'snets-sheet 2 Filed July 8, 1921 Patented eb. 26, 19 24.c

, {STATES PATENT orncs. 8

WILLIAM, 1; IIUEHL, or Kansas CITY, MISSOURI, AssIGNon T INTERSTATErmnmns Inc, or KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, A coaromrronor mssouiu.

APPARATUS nos. CONVERTING HEAVY nvnnoonncsons'm'ronmnrnn HYDRO- cannons.

Application filed m 8, 1921. Serial no. 483,182.

To all whom it may concern Be it known th at I, WILLIAM F. MUEHL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county ofJackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Converting Heavy Hydrocarbons intoLighterHydrocarbons; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact de-.

scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this spec1- iication. I This inventionrelates to an apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons.

The invention contemplates the treatment I of heavy hydrocarbons wherebythe more volatile constituents thereof may be converted into a vaporphase and condensed to a liquid phase to render them adaptable as fuelfor hydrocarbon burning engines and the like. I

In carrying outtheinvention, the heavy hydrocarbons, together with thelighter ones,

in the liquid phase arepreheated by absorbing some of the: heat from thelighter hydrocarbons in the vapor phase. This is accomplished bycontra-flowing films of mixed heavy and lighter hydrocarbons withrespect to previously separated lighter hydrocarbons In the vapor stage,the separated lighter hydrocarbons being subsequently condensed back tothe liquid stage so as to be commercially available.

v A novel apparatus is provided for carrying out the novel methodcontemplated by my invention, as will be clearly apparent.

in which- 7, p

Fig. 1 is a; perspective view of an .m-

by reference to the accompanying drawings,

stallation constructed, and arranged in accordance with my invention.

Fig.2 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view through one ofthefilming towers and a reheating tower supported thereby.

ig. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of apreheating tower and the upper portion of the filming tower.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view line 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view through a communicate with one or moredistributing and preheating towers throughthemedium of a pipe line 2 inwhich is a cold oilIpum'p 3 for pumping the oil at normal tempera tureinto the tower. The towers are, in effect, heatexchanging refluxcondensers,

shown as three in number-and designated J 4, 5 and 6, superposed uponand supported V by the filming towers 7, 8 and 9. The towers 4, 5 and 6,as well as the towers 7, 8 and 9, are all of the same construction oneset being shown shown in Figs. 2 and 3 partly in elevation and partly insection.

Thefilming tower or towers areshown as supported upon the cover plate 10ofa con denser box 11 andeach tower consists of a tubular member 12provided at its lower so that communication'may be had between theinterior of the tube 12 and the outlet 19 at the'top of the casing 16,there being a liquid space 20 within thevtube 16 surrounding the pipes15, the space being closed at the top and bottom by the disks 17 and 18.

The space or chamber 20 is provided at its top with an inlet pipe 21communicating in 1 each instancewith the pipe 2 and at the bottom of thespace 20 is an outlet port or pi v 5 22, communicating in each instancewith the take-ofi' or discharge pipe 28 through the medium of theconnections 24 so that oil pumped from the reservoir 1 may pass into thechamber 20 and discharge therefrom through the pipe connections24= intothe pipe 23. The oil passes from the pipe 23 Into a preheater tank 25,supported by the furnace setting 26', the construction of the furnacebeing immaterial but means is provided therein for raising thetemperature of the oil in the tank and after it has reached the propertemperature, for example, 400 degrees F., it will be discharged throughthe pipe 27 and be pumped into the filming towers b the hot oil pump 28,with the intake of which the pipe 27 communicates.

The discharge end of the pump 28 communicates with a pipe 29, whichdischarges into the inlet ports 30 of the filming towers 7, 8 and 9,Where the oil will be permitted to gravitate over the filming baflles 31and 32. The filming baiiies 31 are shown as comprising perforate disks,the perimeters of which are supported by the interior portions of thewalls of the tube 12. The alternating bafiies 32 of less diameter,havingtheir perimeters spaced away from the inner walls of the tube 12,are supported by a central tubular member 33, which, in turn, may besupported by the angle 34 at the bottom end of the tower and the angle35 at the top end of the tower, as clearly seen in F 2. Therefore,oil'entering at 30 will pass from the chambered portion 14 through theperforate battles 31 and over the filming baffles 32, gravitating to thebottom or sump portion 13 where the oil will pass therefrom through theoutlet port or ports 36 into the stills37, supported by the furnacesetting 37' provided with suitable heat sources 37 so that thetemperature of the oil in the stills 37 can beraised high enough, about750 degrees F. plus, to volatilize the lighter hydrocarbons or convertthem from the liquid phase into the vapor phase, permitting them toaccumulate in the dome or domes 38 and pass therefrom through the pipes39 into the inlet port 40 of the chamber 12 and contra-flow with respectto the oil discharged from the port 30 downwardly, In other words,.thevapor entering through 40 will flow in an upward direction and theliquid oil entering through 30 will flow in a downward direction, thegravitat ing oil absorbing some of the heat oi the gases and condensingthe heavy hydrocarbons, which willficw along with the oil into thesump13. The more volatile gases, however, will exhaust throughthe pipes15 out through the outlet port 19 and communicate with the manifold pipe41 through the me dium of the pipe or pipes 42 and the branch pipes. 43,the branch pipes being connected to the pipes 41 above the valves 44 sothat when the valves 44 are closed, the vapor must pass into the pipes41. If desired, a pressure reducing valve 45 may be placed in each pipe43.v p

The vapor will pass from'4l into the distributor pipe 46inthe'lowerportion of the preheating still or tank 25 so. thatthevaporized hydrocarbons may escape through the discharge nozzles 47,communicating neeense the tower being provided with alternating disks 51and 52, the disks-51 being perforated like disks 31 and the disks 52being supported by a column or tube 53 like the tube 33 in Fig. 2.Therefore, the vapor will follow a tortuous path within the tower 49 anddischarge at the upper end thereof through the outlet port 54,communicating with the pipes 42 below the valves 44 so that the oil inthe vapor phase will pass through the condenser box 11 and be convertedback into the liquid phase so that the product wiilbe what is known ascommercial gasoline.

By reference to the drawings it will be observed that the lighterhydrocarbons in their vapor phase which pass through the tower casing 16will have some of their heat absorbed by conduction through the mediumof the pipes 15 and consequently, the oil in the chamber 20 surroundingsaid pipes will absorb this heat and be preheated or have itstemperature raised above that of the tank 1 from which it wasdischarged. The oil then passing into the preheater still or tank 'llhave its temperature raised to a conable degree, approximately 400 F.before entring the tubular member 12,.which the casing for the filmingtower, where its temperature will be further raised before it isdischarged into the stills 35. While the temperature of the oil in tank25 is given as 400 1 it is obvious that the actual temperatureunderoperating conditions will vary according to the rate of flowthrough the tank 25, 101 example the faster the oil flows the lower thetemperature of the oil in tank 25 and vice versa; 7

The oil, passing downwardly in the tower casing 12, will come in inimate contact with the rising vapors enter the tower casing through thepipe or port 40, consequently, t is hydrocarbon liquid will absorb someof the heat from the vapors entering the tower casing through the pipe40, slightly lowering the temperature of such vapors andperinitting theheavier hydrocarbons to condense and precipitate into the. sump, orreing, a high grade product willbe delivered to the discharge end ofthecondenser box 11, resultingfrom the fact that all of the ketablewithout further treatment.

converted hydrocarbons need not be carried ofi in the-vapor phase. Inactual practice I have found that by carrying out my process, I obtain avery highgasoline yield, considerably in excess of the normal yield fromstills now generably employed and that the product maror example, gasoil of gravity subjected to 125 pounds pressure and 7 degrees F. heat,yields an average of one-half gallon per square footof heating area perhour with a oil chamber having an oil inlet at the top and an oil outletat the bottom, the oil inlet at the top communicating with the source ofsupply, a pro-heating still, a pipe connected to the outlet for the oilchamber and discharging into the pro-heating still above the normalliquid level thereof, an outlet pipe communicating with the pro-heatingstill below the normal liquid level thereof and discharging into thetower below the oil chamber, baffles in the tower below the oil chamberover which the oil from the last named pipe flows, a sump at the bottomof the tower, a main still, a pipe communicating the sump with the mainstill, a pipe communicating with the main still above the normal liquidlevel thereof and communicating with the tower above the sump and belowthe battles, a vapor conducting pipe connected to the top of the towerabove the oil chamber and above the tubes in the oil chamber, adistributor connected to the pipe and located below the liquid level inthe pro-heating still, a heat exchang ing tower communicating withthepro-heating still, a pipe leading from the top of the last-named tower,and a condenser connected to said pipe.

2. An apparatus for converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighterhydrocarbons comprising a source of oil supply, a heat exchanging refiuxcondensing tower having a casing at its upper end communicating with thetop of the tower, tubes in the casin crown sheets connecting the tubesto provi e an oil chamber about the tubes, the oilchamber having an oilinlet at the top and an oil outlet at the bottom, the oil inlet atthetop communicating with the source of supply, a

pro-heating still, a pipe connected to the outlet for the oil chamberand discharging into the pro-heating still above the normal liquid levelthereof, an outlet pipe communicating with the pro-heating still belowthe normal liquid level thereof and discharging into the tower below theoil chamber, baflles in the tower below the oil chamber over which theoil from the last-named pipe flows, a sump at the bottom of the tower, amain still, a

pipe communicating the sump with the main still, a pipe communicatingwith the main still above the normal liquid level thereof andcommunicating with the tower above" the sump and below the bafiies, avapor conducting pipe connected to the top of the tower above the oilchamber and above the tubes in the oil chamber, a distributor connectedto the pipe and located below the liquid level in the pre-heating still,a heat exchanging tower communicating with the pre-heating still, a pipeleading from the top of the last-named tower, a condenser connected tosaid pipe, the pipe leading from the last-named tower communicating withthe pipe leading from the top of the heat exchanging reflux condensertower to the distributor in the pro-heating still, and a valve in one ofthe pipes adapted to be unseated so as to by-pass the vapors from theheat exchanging reflux tower directly into the condenser without passinginto the pro-heating still.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM F.

